Foundational Phases Lecture Notes

Part 1


The phases of learning are not a conveyer belt!
Core Phase: Foundational phase.  Influences everything in the other phases. You never leave it behind.  It will determine whether you have a successful scholar phase.
Love of Learning and Scholar phase depend upon and are always influenced by Core Phase.


Lessons of Core Phase: 
Play - Unscripted, Unstructured
Work - 
Good (Right vs. Wrong) -
Love (Relationships) - Learning how things are connected in the world, and their place in it.


Getting a great education is really about being able choosing the right.


Ghandi's Seven Social Sins

• Wealth without Work
• Pleasure without Conscience
• Science without Humanity
• Knowledge without Character
• Politics without Principle
• Commerce without Morality
• Worship without Sacrifice

Lessons of Love of Learning

• I can learn!

vs. Hate of Learning

• I have to be forced to learn
• Learning is stressful
• Learning is so complicated that I can only learn with trained professionals walking me through it.
• I don't know anything unless someone certifies that I do.
• I'm probably wrong about the stuff I think I know.
• I have to master this now or I'll be behind for the rest of my life.
• Things I'm interested in are not important
• Learning is one thing.  What I feel and experience is another.
• When I am a mom/dad I will worry/beat myself up about what I am not doing and wonder if I should be doing what I'm doing.
• When I am a mom/dad I will say I know something is the right thing and then constantly second guess my decisions.

Hate of Learning 2.0

• I'm really great because I know how to read (do math, get good grades, etc.)
• _____ is dumb because he can't read.
• I'm cooler than ______ because I'm reading before him.
• We work hard on reading because mom/dad want to prove they are good parents.
• The most important thing I learn right now is skills.
• The faster I grow up the better.
• Once I am a mom/dad, I won't have to study anymore.
• I really need to fit in
• I really need to stand out.

Lessons of Scholar Phase

• Gaining a sense of mission
• Have a vision of who you want to become
• Develop Scholar Skills
• Develop abilities (character)

Part 2

What phase am I in?

To find out, ask yourself:  What do you do in your freetime?

For Children: 

Core Phase: PlayingLove of Learning: Collecting things, building things, reading, etc.

It's okay to bounce back and forth.  It's not clear cut or a conveyer belt!

For Adults:

Core: 

• Burn candle at both ends
• Spend my free time being distracted (facebook???)
• Life is chaotic, important relationships are strained.

Personal Core - I should be spending time in my core book every day.

Family Core - We should be spending time in our core book together every day.  Is there a lot of fighting/bickering/tension?  Need to take care of that.

Home Core  - Need systems to help the home run efficiently.

Love of Learning

• Have fun with friends
• Go on field trips
• Hobbies, Closet full of unfinished projects
• Try to read a ton of books you checked out from the library on a million topics

It's easy to get addicted to this phase or get stuck here.  Some LoL phase activities are better than others.

Sometimes you just need the freedom to enjoy a good  LoL phase

But you might be distracting yourself from some core issues.

Scholar Phase

• Study
• Apply yourself to careful practice

Part 3

TJed is based on naturally occurring developmental phases.   (Erikson, Piaget, Vygotski, Dewey)

Erikson's Phases of Development

To consider:

• How well did you learn the appropriate lessons of each of Erikson's Phases?
• How will these lessons contribute to a scholar phase?
• Are my children learning these lessons?

Here's a great article that outlines the stages in more detail.

Challenge:

1. Ponder the Core Phase Inventory questions and journal your thoughts to do an inventory of the condition of your core. 
2. What are your core values? Can you summarize what your core book teaches? Let's all give this one a try. Write it down.
3. Make a plan or set a goal to live closer to your core values.
4. Spend time daily in your core book. This is the most important challenge. Everything else is icing on the cake.